How to Apply for an AVO in NSW: Police and Private Applications, Proof and Court

By James Stevens, Director and Solicitor, Go To Court Lawyers. Last reviewed 14 April 2026.

To get an AVO in NSW, you can ask the police to apply for you, or apply yourself at a Local Court registry if they will not; you must prove, on the balance of probabilities, that you fear the defendant will harm, intimidate or stalk you or damage your property, and that your fear is reasonable. Only the police can apply to protect a child under 16, and the court must refer an application for a personal violence order to mediation unless there is a good reason not to.

Checked on 23 October 2026 against Legal Aid NSW's guide to getting and defending an apprehended violence order.

If you are in danger now, call 000. The NSW Domestic Violence Line (1800 65 64 63) and 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) answer at any time.

Who can apply, and how

You can seek an apprehended violence order (AVO) if you are experiencing, or have been threatened with, physical violence (including sexual abuse), intimidation, harassment or stalking, damage to your property, or harm to your animals. For what an AVO is, how long it lasts and what breaching one means, see AVOs in NSW.

• Speak to the police first. If the police apply, they run the case, gather the evidence and a police prosecutor represents the application in court; you do not need your own lawyer. The police must apply if a domestic violence offence has been, is being or will be committed against you, and can seek a provisional AVO if you need protection straight away.
• Apply yourself if the police will not, or you want to represent yourself: contact your nearest Local Court registry. Some courts have a kit or form; at others you make an appointment with the registrar. If you need protection urgently, ask about an interim AVO, which a magistrate usually deals with on the day you apply.
• One defendant per application: if you need protection from more than one person, make a separate application for each.
• Children: only the police can apply to protect a child under 16, but you can include your children in your own AVO. If an interim or final AVO is made for you, in most cases the court must also protect any child under 16 who lives with you.
• The registrar can refuse an application they think has no grounds. You can still ask to put it to a magistrate, who may accept or refuse it.
• Interpreters are free in AVO matters; tell the registry as soon as possible.

What you have to prove

• Two tests: your actual fear (what you feel) and reasonable grounds (what a reasonable person in your situation would feel), proved on the balance of probabilities. In a private application the burden is on you alone; the defendant does not have to prove anything.
• No violence needed: you do not have to have suffered actual violence.
• Without fear: the court can make an AVO even if you do not actually fear the defendant if you are a child or have appreciably below average intellectual functioning, and for an ADVO in some other circumstances, such as repeated personal violence offences by the defendant.
• Evidence: in a police application the police prepare it. In a private application you prepare your own statement and your witnesses' statements, gather photos and other evidence, and can issue subpoenas for documents or witnesses.
• Costs: in a private application, think carefully first. If your ADVO application is dismissed, costs can be ordered against you only if it was frivolous or vexatious; for a dismissed APVO, costs can also be ordered if you withdrew it, did not come to court, or the case was invalid. A protected person cannot be ordered to pay costs in a police application.

What happens at court

1. The mention: the first court date. The court asks whether the applicant still wants an AVO and how the defendant wants to respond. The case may finish that day or be adjourned. A self-represented applicant who does not attend may have the application dismissed. Women experiencing domestic violence can get support from a Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service at most courts.
2. Interim AVO: a provisional AVO automatically becomes an interim AVO at the first mention unless the court decides otherwise, and the court can make an interim AVO if it thinks one is necessary until the case is finished.
3. APVO mediation: for an APVO, the court must refer the matter to mediation unless there is a good reason not to, at no cost to you. An agreement reached there can be made enforceable.
4. The defendant's response: the defendant can ask for an adjournment to get advice, consent to the AVO with or without admissions, offer an undertaking, make a cross application, oppose the application, ask for a property recovery order, or do nothing.
5. Hearing: if the defendant opposes, the case goes to a hearing where the magistrate hears the evidence. A final AVO can also be made if the defendant consents, or does not come to court after being served.

• Undertakings: a defendant's formal promise to the court is not legally enforceable, and police often do not accept them in ADVO cases. If one is broken, you can apply for an AVO again. Get advice before accepting one.
• Property: the court can make a property recovery order so belongings such as clothes, papers and children's toys are returned, usually with police present.

Free help in NSW

How Go To Court Lawyers can help

Our free line, 1800 577 015, answers at any hour. Jen, our AI legal information assistant, gives general legal information and takes your details; Jen is not a lawyer and does not give advice about your case. A 60-minute consultation with a lawyer who practises in New South Wales is a fixed $295, by phone, video or in person where the lawyer offers it. The lawyer can advise whether to apply privately, help prepare your statement and evidence, represent you at the hearing, or advise a defendant on consenting without admissions, an undertaking or a cross application. Requests are taken at any hour; how soon a lawyer can see you depends on who is available. Request a $295 consultation.

General information only, not legal advice. Updated 23 October 2026. Checked against Legal Aid NSW's pages on getting an AVO, private and police AVO applications, the mention, costs in AVO cases, types of AVOs and defending an AVO, on 23 October 2026.